Urban Sustainability Preferences Revealed Through Multifamily Rents

Rising urban population growth increases demand for multi-family housing; sustainable urban form and building level sustainability represent vital planning areas for this demand . Here, the multi-family housing stock is used to examine consumer preferences about sustainability in growing urban areas. Drawing on a data set of more than 40,000 apartment buildings/complexes from Apartments.com and secondary data from the describing urban form, walkability, proximity, access to transit, schools, and crime, this paper addresses the question: what sustainability features are desirable both in building and locational form in the largest U.S. CBSAs? Methodologically, the paper uses the traditional hedonic modeling techniques that include both apartment complex and unit attributes. These models are augmented with spatial and locational attributes designed to reveal preferences for sustainability in cities. Further, the unique data reveals previously unobserved property and locational traits. Model results have implications for property investors, developers, asset managers, and urban policy makers